S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Overview

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:Call of Pripyat is a post-apocalyptic FPS game with RPG, survival, and horror elements developed by GSC Game World and set in the same universe as the previous games. It follows Major Degtyarev and his investigation of the 5 crashed Stingray helicopters which were part of the failed Operation Fairway. The game is set shortly after the events of Shadow of Chernobyl and the shutting down of the brain scorcher. Call of Pripyat features many of the gameplay innovations that were added in Clear Sky.

Story

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is a direct sequel to Shadow of Chernobyl. The events in the game are set shortly after Strelok shuts down the brain scorcher in 2012, after which a large number of Stalkers make their way to the center of the zone.

The Ukranian Army begins Operation Fairway in which several state-of-the-art Stingray helicopters were sent into the zone, to take control over Pripyat and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The objective of the operation is to create a foothold in the region, in order to launch a full scale invasion later on. Despite meticulous planing, the operation is a catastrophic failure, as all of the pilots fail to report in.

Alexandar Degtyarev of the Ukrainian Secret Service (USS) is sent into the zone disguised as a simple Stalker. His mission is to discover what had happened to the stingray helicopters and to see if any of the crews had survived.

The area the major first arrives in is Zaton, where there are 3 crashed helicopters:

Stingray 5, which crashed in a swamp filled with chemical anomalies in the north eastern part of Zaton.

Stingray 2, which crashed near an iron forest anomaly in the southern part of Zaton; most of the crew was killed while the chopper was still in the air. Those who survived the crash were killed by a poltergeist.

Stingray 3, which crashed in a plateau in the southern part of Zaton. In order to reach the plateau Degtyarev must consult Noah, a local Stalker, who leads him to a burnt farmstead. After investigating the 3rd Stingray, Major Degtyarev discovers the evacuation locations, he then must investigate these locations as well.

After investigating the 3 stingray choppers in Zaton, Degtyarev proceeds to Yanov area with the help of the stalker who is aptly named Pilot, where there are 2 more stingray choppers that Degtyarev needs to investigate. Stingray 4 crashed through the roof of an industrial complex, and Stingray 1 crashed on a helipad surrounded by a minefield. Once the Major finds and investigates Stingray 4, he learns of a evacuation location in Pripyat, naturally, he must go there and see if there are any survivors. Unfortunately, the only way of reaching Pripyat is through an underground tunnel, the tunnel is filled with gas, the power has been cut, and furthermore the door to the tunnel is locked, Degtayrev must ask Nitro to help him gain access. He must also gather a squad of stalkers to help him with whatever dangers lurk in the tunnels. The player may recruit up to 4 men:

• Zulu is a Duty fighter, he spends his days drinking vodka and shooting zombified stalkers and mutants from a tower next to Yanov station, he uses a heavy,modified machine gun.

• Strider is the leader of the monolith squad that the player may run into in the southern part of Yanov, Strider has a burning desire to find out what happened to him and his squad, which is why he gladly accepts the players invitation to Pripyat.

• Lieutenant Sokolov is a pilot who survived the crash of Stingray 4, he was found by a stalker named Garry who led him to the mobile lab. Once Degrayrev offers Sokolov to join him, the player must find a suit to keep Sokolov protected from the hazardous environment of the tunnel, an ecologist quest ties into this.

• Vano, the stalker you may have already met by this point, he asks the player to help him clear his debt with a local bandit leader named Jack. Vano eagerly accepts to go to Pripyat with the player and the rest of the squad.

Recruitment of all four stalkers leads to the Leader achievement, which will increase their chances of survival in the tunnels, though it won't make them invincible.

It should be noted that if any of the members die during this mission they won't have an ending, so the player should take extra care for their well-being, to make things worse you won't be able to heal them, so the player should try to prevent the team getting damaged.

Once Nitro enables the door, the team descends down to the tunnel. What follows is a medium sized series of tunnels filled with snorks, rodents (or hamsters) and zombified stalkers. The tunnels themselves are dark and filled with small fields of anomalies at certain places, as the team makes their way through the tunnels they will be ambushed by a number of storks and rodents. When the team reaches a large oval chamber they will discover that the door leading to the next area isn't powered, the Major must restore power by climbing a ladder to a nearby generator, once the generator is activated the team will be ambushed by six hostile Monolith members who are equipped with high level assault rifles. After the skirmish there is another obstacle, the door still can't be opened, and Degtyarev will have to make his way to the control room, once a switch is activated the mentioned door will be open, but more Monolith members will come, this time they will be equipped with sniper rifles. Once the door is finally opened the player will make way through another small tunnel filled with some snorks and 10+ zombies. After clearing this part of the underground the team may finally exit the tunnels and reach Pripyat. However, the team runs into more difficulty, they are ambushed by a team of well equipped soldiers, a firefight does not take place though, as Sokolov and Degtayrev, who shows his USS legitimation, manage to convince the soldiers that they aren't looking for a fight. After hearing this, Zulu storms off saying that he wants nothing to do with the army or the USS.

It is possible for any and all of your squad members to die in the tunnel, preventing you from interacting with them later on.

After arriving to the Laundromat, the HQ of the military in Pripyat, Major Degtyarev meets colonel Kovalsky. Kovalsky sends him on a number of missions aimed at discovering the fate of several soldiers who were sent out on recon. Finding out what's jamming communications with HQ. Ambushing a Monolith squad, in order to find out if the weapons they use are the reason for Stingray malfunction.

The first mission Degtyarev will be sent out on is the ambush of the monolith squad. The major along with 3 other soldiers will have to set up an ambush in an apartment block, the three man monolith squad arrives and they are swiftly killed by Degtyarev and the soldiers. As it turns out the first squad was merely bait, with a large amount of Monolith fighters waiting in cover, it was a counter-ambush as it were.

After the player kills all the fighters and takes out the Monolith leader who is standing on a nearby rooftop, Degtyarev will search the bodies in hopes of finding the mysterious weapon. As it turns out the weapon is broken, and the way it operates can't be uncovered. Colonel Kovalsky asks that Degtyarev returns to the technicians he has met in his travels, and see if they know anything about the weapon.

Upon returning to Zaton and speaking to Cardan, it is revealed that Cardan worked in a secret testing facility, and that he helped design the mysterious weapon, a Gauss Rifle. Cardan gives Degtyarev his old keycard to the testing facility, after making his way to the lower levels the player will encounter a pseudogiant, a notoriously difficult to kill mutant, finally the player will arrive in the last room, where Degtyarev will discover files of a secret X8 lab, and in this room, from the looks of it, a Gauss canon can be seen. Seeing the documents will activate a new mission, Investigating lab X8, in Pripyat. Upon returning to Kovalsky, the major reassures him that its impossible that monolith, using the Gauss rifle, brought down the choppers, the Colonel will then task the Major to find the missing recon units, after a while it is discovered that it was in fact a controller that made the soldiers fight each other. Visiting lab X8 the player will have to fight through many zombies and some Monolith fighters, after which he can descended to the lower levels of the lab by activating a generator and using an elevator. There Degtyarev will find documents detailing the operations and experiments that took place in X8. Again, returning to the Laundromat the major will receive a mission in which he must destroy whatever is jamming communication abilities with HQ, as it turns out, it was an antenna, similar to antennas worshiped by Monolith. After it is destroyed major Degtyarev is put in charge of the operation by the orders of a superior via radio. Its at this point that a strange new interference shows up, the colonel and rest of the soldiers expect a monolith attack when in fact it was Strelok making his way to the Laundromat, shortly after Strelok arrives an emission starts. At this point, the reason for the failure of Operation Fairway is revealed, after an emission, all anomalies move their position, which is why the anomaly maps issued to chopper pilots were useless. The player may choose to speak with Strelok, and give Strelok the notes he found in stashes, a note to Fang, a note to Ghost and a note to Strelok, giving Strelok 3 of the notes will earn the player A Keeper of Secrets achievement, all three notes can be found in Yanov.

Soon, a decision is made to evacuate Strelok from the zone so that he may share information and his knowledge of the zone with the military, in hopes of containing it or hopefully destroying it. The final mission involves escorting Strelok to the LZ area, while fighting off large amounts of zombies, and just before the landing zone 15+ Monolith members. After Strelok and the major reach the helicopter, the player chooses whether or not he wishes to continue playing in freeplay mode. The ending shows a slide featuring the fates of locations and people that Degtyarev came into contact with, most endings have 2 versions, which are determined by the players choices, and a few of them have are default, unchangeable endings.

Gameplay

Call of Pripyat puts the player in the post apocalyptic area known as the Zone. The player will have the opportunity to find better weapons,armor and artifacts, kill mutated humans and animals, and support or oppose factions of their choosing during the course of the game.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has always been known for its realistic difficulty and Call of Pripyat is no exception, with the gameplay being the most familiar element from previous games. It still forces the player to take cover, lean around corners, account for bullet drop, fire in bursts, watch the condition of their weapons and health.

At any time in the game, an emission might start. The player will receive a radio warning, and the weather will start to drastically change. Emissions are dangerous natural occurrences that take place within the zone, they are usually lethal unless the player finds shelter or uses anibiotic pills.

Equipment maintenance and improvements were introduced in Clear Sky, and they continue in Call of Pripyat. During the course of the game, the player may run into several technicians who will repair and improve their equipment for a price.

Anomalies and the use of artifacts have experienced a few changes. In Shadow of Chernobyl, the player would run into artifacts and could simply pick them up, with a low to no chance of being damaged.In Call of Pripyat (like in Clear Sky) however, artifacts are invisible and they move around in anomalies, they can only become visible to the player with the use of an artifact detector.

The inventory system remains unchanged. It is grid based, which means that different items will take up different amounts of space. The player is not able to carry huge amounts of ammo or items, which places additonal importance on scavenging items to survive. Each item has its own weight, from ammo to food, and the amount that can be carried is determined by the maximum carry weight. Once it reaches its maximum the player won't be able to sprint for long as his stamina decreases very quickly due to the weight of his or her inventory. When the weight of items carried reaches +10 of the maximum the player won't be able to move at all. However, there are several ways to increase maximum carrying weight or reduce the weight of equipment.

Throughout the Zone the player will encounter mutated animals and humans, as well as Stalkers of different factions. The player will be forced to kill mutants, though he may choose whether or not he kills Stalkers. Two new types of mutants have been added to the game, the Chimera and the Burer.

Trading in Call of Pripyat is similar to past Stalker games. The player will be able to buy equipment and items from traders, and he may also sell items, though this time a weapons condition must be at a sufficient level in order to be sold.

The game also features a day/night cycle, although unlike previous Stalker games, the player will have the ability to sleep in Call of Pripyat. This is can be useful when you must go to a certain location at a certain time, such as when hunting Chimeras, which only come out at night.

Weapons, Armor and Combat

Weapons and combat remain mostly unchanged; however weapons have gained several new statistics, like bullet speed or flatness. There are unfortunately no new weapons in Call of Pripyat, but that doesn’t mean that the player must choose from a small number of weapons, in all there are 33 weapons along with their unique variants. Combat remains realistic and difficult; taking on three or more opponents at the same time is usually lethal. The player will have to utilize cover, and try to take out enemies as fast and as efficiently as possible, because large groups of enemies will try to flank the player. Should player be shot, or damaged by mutants, there is a good chance bleeding will occur. Depending on how much damage a player takes, bleeding can range from light to heavy, and in any case it should be tended to with bandages as quickly as possible. Aiming down a weapon will bring up that weapon's iron sights, or scopes if they are attached to the weapon. Apart from scopes, grenade launchers can also be attached to weapons. However, finding ammo for grenade launchers is quite difficult. In order to attach scopes or grenade launchers to a weapon, an improvement must be installed. The improvements for weapons and armor have three tiers, for which 3 tool sets must be acquired and given to a technician. These improvements allow the player to take a relatively weak weapon that can be found early in the game and make it stronger. This obviously works even better for naturally powerful weapons, but as the power of a weapon increases so do the costs of installing improvements. Armor also remains very similar to previous games, though the amount of armor pieces is perhaps lessened. The easiest, though most expansive way, to acquire armor would be visiting Nimble in Skadovsk, where the exoskeleton suit can cost up to 60,000 rubles. Apart from that, armor can be found on the corpses of a few dead Stalkers, as well as received for completing missions.

In Shadow of Chernobyl, the player was able to use five artifacts regardless of the armor or suit they wore. In Call of Pripyat, the amount of artifacts that can be used varies and is dependent on the suit. Some suits allow no artifacts to be used where as others, with some improvements, can use up to five artifacts. Like previous Stalker games, weapons and armor in Call of Pripyat have a condition statistic. The more armor gets damaged, and the more the player uses their gun, the more their condition will deteriorate. Armor's condition also worsens when the player is walking through a particularly dangerous gas or flaming anomaly, because the toxicity and heat of the anomaly will effect the armor.

Technicians, Improvements and Repairs

Improvements and repairs first appeared in Clear Sky, and they are also a part of Call of Pripyat.

The improvements vary depending on the tools the technician uses, some improvements increase reliability, some improve handling, others accuracy, some the magazine size, and yet others decrease the weight of a weapon, bullet speed, flatness and recoil, all of these statistics of a weapon can be improved, as well as adding a place where a scope or grenade launcher may be attached to, it should be noted that improvements have no negative sides, only positive.

There are 2 technicians in the game, Nitro and Cardan. Cardan is located in Skadovsk, he is fond of vodka and will require a bottle for the simple improvements and two bottles for the more advance improvements, Nitro is located in Yanov station. Each type of weapon and armor have their own unique improvements. There are 3 tiers of improvements and each tier usually has up to 4 or 5 improvements, sometimes a tier will feature two improvements in the same line, choosing one eliminates the other, obviously as the weapons power and improvements level increases so does the price of installing them, the quality of the item, as well as its condition also plays a role in determining the price of repair. Tool sets are used for installing improvements, and both technicians will ask you to bring them 3 sets of tools, they can be found around the zone, there are two tool sets in each area, there are 3 types of tools, so in all the player will be able to find 6 tools.

Zaton: 1 set of tools for simple work, 1 set of tools for fine work.

Yanov: 1 set of tools for simple work, 1 set of tools for fine work.

Pripyat: 2 sets of calibration tools.

Once the player brings all three types of tools to one or both technicians the player will earn an achievement depending on what technician the player gave the tools to. Depending on the players standing with Duty and Freedom, Cardan or Nitro will lower their prices.

Grey (or Novikov) can only repair items and upgrade headgear, he can not improve weapons however.

Should the player start freeplay mode after the main quest is complete, uncle Yar from Yanov station will move to Pripyat and also give services as a technician (only repair) and a medic, his services are free.

Anomalies and Artifacts

Like in previous games the player will have a chance to take highly sought after artifacts, it is then up to the player to store them, sell them or use them. Unlike Shadow of Chernobyl, artifacts won’t be visible, they will move around anomalies hidden from the players sight unless the player uses a detector, making the acquisition of artifacts much more difficult. Anomalies are found perhaps lest often, though every anomaly is unique. They range from chemical, gravitational, fire, electrical, to gas anomalies and many others. Anomalies can be far more dangerous in Call of Pripyat then they were in Shadow of Chernobyl, the damage of all anomalies is increased and it’s advised that the player takes at least some form of protection against the damage an anomaly will dish out. Each area of the game will have its own anomalies, they will be shown on the map surrounded by white circles, each anomaly will drop certain artifacts, after taking the artifacts, anomalies will re-spawn them after a quest is complete. The exact location of artifacts can be pinpointed by using a detector, there are four detectors in all, each one more powerful than the other.

Echo Detector

This is the detector that the major has with him when he arrives, it is the simplest and least powerful of all four detectors, it locates artifacts simply by beeping, it gives no other indicator as to how close the player is to an artifact.

Bear Detector

The second detector is rather common in the zone, it can be dropped by more experienced stalkers and in addition to beeping it points the player in the location of the artifacts, often, it can be purchased from Owl.

Veles Detector

The third detector, along with beeping this detector shows the player a field, in it artifacts will appear as dots, this type of detector is rather rare, and can be found in a handful of places, only dropped by very experienced stalkers, it can be bought from the ecologists, and rarely bought from Owl. The player must find three veles detectors in the quest Tempting Business after which the player will receive a Svarog detector.

Svarog Detector

The most powerful of all detectors, it is a prototype, and the player may only gain it once, at the end of the quest Tempting Business. It shows a field very much like Veles, but unlike it, Svarog also shows anomalies as well as artifacts, making artifact runs a breeze.

It can also be noted that Svarog is the name of the Slavic God of blacksmithing and fire.

Emissions

As mentioned emissions are powerful natural occurrences. They are a result of Common Consciousness control over nature. During an emission, everything runs for shelter. Emissions happen regularly, on average about once a day, and the only way to survive an emission is to find shelter (the PDA shows the location of the nearest shelter) or to take anabiotic pills which are rare. Emissions last about 5 minutes with the peak lasting 10-20 seconds, at this point lightning, and "blackouts" will be at their worst, while the camera will shake uncontrollably, if the player fails to take the pills or find shelter at this point Major Degtyarev will die. There are a handful of anabiotic pills to be found in the game.

• North of the burnt farmstead, in a cave with a controller in it.
• In the north part of a pipeline, that was used by Grouse and Major Degtyarev to escape the bloodsucker lair.
• Ecologists will sell them if the player does some favors for them.
• Bookstore in Pripyat.
• Department store in Pripyat.

It should be noted that anabiotic pills are a factor in the Marked by the Zone achievement, in which the player must survive three emissions without shelter.

Inventory, carrying weight and storage

As said, the inventory system remains unchanged from the previous games, it is a grid based system and apart from the weight, inventory space is also a factor of how many/much items the player can carry. Unlike previous games however, Call of Pripyat introduces a storage space, which is located in each “safe spot”, there the player may store as many items and as much ammunition as he or she desires. Other than that the player may simply leave any undesired loot on the ground, the loot will stay there as long as the game lasts. Maximum carrying weight has received some improvements since Shadow of Chernobyl, the ability to reduce the weight of weapons and armor you plan to use is very helpful, apart from that the player may use the “Hercules” consumable item which adds 20 kilograms to the maximum carry weight, there are also artifacts that increase the carry weight maximum, allowing the player to reach a rather high carry weight and therefore allowing the player to carry many items and much more ammo.

Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

The personal digital assistant, or PDA, is an electronic device, where many stalkers keep personal info, information about stashes or their objectives. The player can access several screens in their PDA. The map with the mission log, the map details areas and locations where as the mission log details both primary missions and secondary ones. Icons will show on the map detailing the location of the next objective in the mission, they will be shown as yellow circles, the player may use the mission log to gain more information about their current tasks and locate the mission location on the map. Another accessible screen is the stats screen, where the player may look at several statistics, including: Days spent in the zone, mutants and stalkers killed, their most used weapon, the most powerful mutant killed by the player, earned achievements etc. And the third and final screen is the message log screen, where the player may look over conversations that major Degtyarev had with NPCs and information that pops up like the starting of an emission, gaining the knowledge of the location of a stash and mission rewards. During an emission the PDA will locate and show the nearest shelter on the map.

Weapons

As mentioned, the game features over 33 weapons and their unique variants, the following is a list of weapons obtainable in Call of Pripyat. Weapon names are followed by their real life equivalent on which they are modeled.

Melee:

• Knife

Pistols:

• Black Kite - (Desert Eagle)
• Fora-12 - (Fort 12)
• HPSS-1m - (Browning Hi-Power)
• Kora-919 - (Colt M1911)
• Noiseless pistol (PB1s) - (Makarov Variant with integrated silencer)
• PMm - (Makarov)
• SIP-t M200 - (Sig Saur P220)
• UDP Compact - (H&K USP-45)
• Walker P9m - (Walther P99)
• Martha - (Beretta-92)

Unique pistol variants:

• Alpine - (Custom Sig Saur P220)
• Steppe Eagle - (Custom Desert Eagle)
• March - (Custom H&K USP-45)
• Ceremonial PMm - (Custom Makarov)

Assault Rifles:

• Akm 74/2 - (AKS-74)
• Akm 74/2U - (AKS-74U)
• AC96/2 - (AN-94 Akaban)
• SA Avalanche - (As Val)
• Thunder S14 - (OTS-14 Groza)
• IL86 - (Enfield L85A1)
• TRs 301 - (ZM LR-300-ML)
• SGi 5K - (Sig- SG550)
• GP37 - (H&K G36)
• FT 200M - (FN- F2000)

Unique assault rifle variants:

• Storm- (Custom OTS-14 Groza)
• SGI 5K Arrow- (Custom Sig- SG550)
• Strelok's SGi 5K- (Custom Sig- SG550)

Submachine Guns:

• Viper 5 - (H&K MP5)

Unique submachine gun variants:

• Fraiser - (custom H&K MP5)

Shotguns:

• Hunting shotgun - (TOZ-34)
• Shotgun - (TOZ-66 "Sawn Off")
• Chaser-13 - (Mossberg 88)
• SPSA14 - (Franchi Spas-12)
• Eliminator - (Armsel Striker)

Unique shotgun variants:

• Predator - (Custom Mossberg 88)
• Carabiner - (Custom Franchi Spas-12)

Sniper Rifles:

• Vintar BC - (VSS Vintorez)
• SVDm2 - (SVD "Dragunov")
• SVUmk2 - (SVU)

Unique sniper variants:

Tide- (Custom VSS Vintorez)

Lynx- (Custom SVD 'Dragunov")

Dragunov SVU-A (Custom SVU)

Machine Guns:

• RP-74 (PKM)

Unique machine gun variants:

• Zulus PKM (Custom PKM)

Grenades

• RGD 5 grenade
• F1 grenade
• Smoke grenade

Grenade Launchers

• RPG 7u - (RPG-7)
• Bulldog 6 - (RG6)

Atmosphere and Setting

Call of Pripyat is set, as the name may suggest, in the surrounding areas of Pripyat and Pripyat itself, Pripyat is also the only real world location featured in the game. Thought the game the player may see many numbers of abandoned apartment complexes, tunnels, industrial buildings, derelict ships and trains and other objects. As for the environment the areas around Pripyat feature a lot of swamps while Pripyat itself is a ghost city, filled with abandoned commercial and residential buildings.

The atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat is, like the previous games, excellent, the Stalker series has always received good reception from both critics and players for its atmosphere and Call of Pripyat is no exception. This game features a very dark, post-apocalyptic, horror survival atmosphere. Stalkers as well as members of other factions will die from mutant attacks, emissions or the player's gun, showing just how lethal the zone is. Zone itself is filled with anomalies,radiation and other harmful environments further increasing the zone's lethality. Players may explore dark tunnels, factories and apartment buildings with their light or night vision on, all the while listening to background noises, making it a chilling experience.

Areas and locations

There are 3 areas in Call of Pripyat, Zaton, Yanov (or Jupiter in some translations) and Pripyat. The areas and locations vary depending on the environment they are situated in. Each location has a "safe spot" Zaton has Skadovsk, Yanov has Yanov Station and Pripyat has the Laundromat and like in previous games the player must holster his weapon before he is granted accesses to these locations. Each area has different anomalies as well, some more and others less dangerous.

Zaton Area

The first accessible area is Zaton, it's located in a primarily swampy environment that has a few industrial buildings such as closed down factories and a sawmill. Around Zaton the player can see derelict ships, some of them dating even before the Chernobyl incident, it is probable that the area was once filled with water, but now, possibly due to radiation, water levels are very low. There is a safe area, a bar situated in a ship called Skadovsk, named after the ship, its one of the few safe locations in Zaton.

Skadovsk

Skadovsk is a bar and safe location set in a rusted, derelict ship, established by Beard and Grouse, this is one of the few places in Zaton where stalkers can come in, have a drink and relax without the worry of mutant attacks. The ship is divided into 3 decks. Beard and Sultan as well as most stalkers are located on the lowest deck, Cardan and Owl are in the second and Nimble is on the third deck.

There are several people who offer the player services, Beard offers food and drink, he'll also buy artifacts for rather high prices, Owl sells information,ammo,weapons,armor, headgear,detectors and other items. Tremor, a medic, will heal your wounds an tend to your radiation (for a time at least), Nimble a rare and/or unique weapons and armor dealer, whose prices are very high, Sultan a local crime boss who offers the player several jobs, and Cardan a local technician who is a bit too fond of vodka.

Beard came to the center of the zone with his long time friend Grouse to open a bar of sorts in order to help stalkers on their way to the center of the zone. Beard is seen as a good, kind-hearted person by stalkers, he is at odds with Sultan the local crime boss, and Owl, the local trader. He sells food and drinks, he also buys artifacts, the artifacts he will buy vary from time to time, he will offer to buy up to three pieces at any given time, once you sell him the artifacts a new list will take place, selling artifacts to beard is one of the fastest ways to earn large amounts of money.

Owl is a trader that offers the player many services, buying and selling information as well as selling items, like weapons, ammo , armor and other items. From time to time he will also have a job for you. He is unscrupulous and rarely does something disinterestedly.

Sultan is the local crime boss and leader of the bandits. Before he came to the zone he had a best friend from high school, Tolyan. His friend got into drugs, some pot at first and later the "heavy stuff", he scored some bad drugs one day and that was that. Sultan then killed the drug dealer and after spending some time in prison he got out and opened a business, after his business failed for unknown reasons he set his sights on the Zone. In six months he advanced to the position of leader of the bandits, and since then he has made alliances with old enemies and has made new friends.

Skadovsk also has a technician, Cardan, who had two friends, Joker and Barge that came to the zone with him. After a heated argument they all went their separate ways, and Cardan has regretted that day ever since. Its this regret that made him sink into a serious case of alcoholism. Cardan will repair and improve the players gear, so long as he has the tools and two bottles of vodka.

There is another trader in Skadovsk alongside Owl, Nimble a trader who was seen in previous Stalker games, he offers high tech guns and armor to the player for rather large sums of money. He used to work for Lebedev during events in Shadow of Chernobyl as a runner, but he claims that he made up his own list of contacts, and now offers Stalkers advance weaponry and armor for a steep price of course. The prices range from 4.000 rubles to several tens of thousands of rubles, the player must make a down payment that is one fifth of the items full price as well as paying the full price of the item on delivery.

Nimble offers:

Pistols - 700 rubles, advance payment, plus 2.800 rubles on delivery, 3.500 rubles total.

Close Range Weapons - 2.000 rubles, advance payment, plus 8.000 rubles on delivery, 10.000 total.

Assault Weapons - 4.000 rubles, advance payment, plus 16.000 rubles on delivery, 20.000 total.

Sniper Weapons - 4.000 rubles, advance payment, plus 16.000 rubles on delivery, 20.000 total.

Armored Suits - 8.000 rubles, advance payment, plus 32.000 rubles on delivery, 40.000 total.

Exoskeletons - 12.000 rubles advance payment, plus 48.000 rubles on delivery, 60.000 total.

Other notable Zaton locations:

Sawmill

Is the location of an old sawmill in the eastern part of Zaton, its overrun with zombies and inside the attic of a building there, the player can find a toolset for basic work, which can be turned over to Cardan, or Nitro for some cash, and the ability to install simple, first tier modifications on a weapon. Sawmill is also a good location for a player to grab some low level ammo and weapons from the zombified stalkers, its pretty easy to do so as the zombies move extremely slow and their firing rate is slow as well. After the player visits this location, zombified stalkers will start appearing all over the Zone.

Waste Processing Station

A location that is controlled by a group of well armed mercenaries, the player will be given a job from Owl in which the player must sneak into the building without being noticed and stealing some files that have information about why the mercenaries are there. The player will have to sneak in, if he/she doesn't wish to kill the mercenaries, as they will shout several warnings, after the fourth or fifth they will turn hostile and start shooting at the player. Sneaking in isn't too difficult as there are a number of ways to do this, the easiest being slipping in through one of the wall cracks, then proceeding to the small sewer system, from which the player may climb a ladder into the building. The building has 3 floors, and a laptop with information is located at the top floor.

Substation Workshops

Here you can find a fine toolset which you can turn over to either Cardan or Nitro for a cash reward and the ability to install some standard, second tier, upgrades. In order to get the toolset the player must either complete the quest, Take the food to the mercenaries, for a peaceful approach, or the player can simply slaughter them and take their loot and equipment. After the player is attacked by mercenaries in Yanov at some point during the main quest, mercenaries both at the workshops and the waste processing station will disappear.

Old Barge

Old Barge (or Noah's ark), is a location the player must visit for two missions, Stingray 3 and Compass. Noah is an eccentric stalker to say the least he has a pseudodog named Lassie as a pet. He is avoided by other stalkers who claim that he's insane and that he shoots people on sight. The interior is comprised of a bed and stairs that lead to the deck of this rusted old ship. The player should be cautious when opening the door to the barge, as Noah has a habit of shooting at the door whenever something, or rather, someone opens it.

Burnt Farmstead

Burnt Farmstead has a ground as well as an underground anomaly. On the ground level, the player will have to have some fire protection as fire anomalies will fire up and damage the player, underground there is a number of gravitational, chemical, fire and roaming burner anomalies, here, underground, the player can find one of Cardan's dead friends, Barge. On the top of one of the burnt houses a player can find a stash that contains one fully repaired Vintar BC. North of the farmstead there is a cave in which a controller is located, if the player kills the controller and proceeds to the end of the cave he will find anabiotic pills along with some minor loot.

Krug Antenna Complex

A building complex that once housed a radio navigation array. Now it serves as a lair to a pack of bloodsuckers. With the help of the local hunter and "sheriff" Grouse, Major Degtyarev manages to infiltrate the lair, only to find a large number of bloodsuckers sleeping in the building. Major Degtyarev and Grouse sneak out, and the next logical step is to gas the entire building in hopes of killing off the bloodsuckers. After the building has been gassed the player may once again enter it and visit the "sleeping chamber" of the bloodsuckers, they will all be dead. Oddly, the player may find the valuable and rare ammo for the extremely powerful Gauss rifle in this building.

Yanov Area

Yanov (or Jupiter) is the next area accessible to the player. There, Major Degtyarev will have to investigate 2 more helicopters, after searching one of them, he will discover an evacuation zone set in Pripyat, where he will have to go next. Yanov Train Station is the hub of activity in this area, in Yanov Stations, stalkers may find a place to rest, have a drink or a meal as well as a medic and technician who will tend to their equipment. Yanov is an area with several swamps, other than that, it has many trains in unusable condition and many train tunnels, in this area there is also an ecologists lab, and an industrial complex.

Yanov Train Station

Yanov Train Station, like Skadovsk before it, is the safe location in Yanov. Located here are traders, medics and a technician, as well as the leaders of Duty and Freedom and many quest givers. Yanov Station has a small basement where stalkers may sleep and where the player may store his items. The main area, where most stalkers can be found, is where tickets used to be purchased, now Hawaiian runs his shop from the ticket booth, apart from the large room in the middle, Yanov station is divided by rooms to the west and east, where in one part, Freedom leader Loki, and the medic take residence and in the opposite part Nitro, the technician and Lieutenant Colonel Shulga leader of Duty are located.

Nitro is the technician in Yanov, he will give the player various missions, and he himself will be involved in a number of tasks, The Road to Pripyat and Stingray 1 amongst others. He will ask of the player to find him old radio parts in the cement factory, as well as tools needed for more advanced weapon and armor improvements, unlike Cardan, Nitro has no addictions to speak of. He is a computer and weapons expert and is also a Duty sympathizer, he will lower his prices to any friends of Duty.

Bonesetter is the resident medic of the station, he is involved in the quest Theft and offers the player medical supplies, and healing of physical wounds as well as radiation. Due to Freedom and Duty being based in Yanov, most people choose sides, but Bonesetter is firmly neutral, advising all stalkers to steer clear of Duty's and Freedom's war, should the player achieve the Balance Advocate achievement, Bonesetter will offer items at a very low price.

Hawaiian is the local trader, he offers a variety of items, including armor,weapons,ammo,drinks,food,detectors and other items. As the player progresses through the game, the quality, and price of Hawaiian's items will increase. He is a firm Freedom supporter, and should the player align himself with Duty, Hawaiian's prices will go up, and he will buy items from the player at a very low price.

Loki and Lieutenant Colonel Shulga are the leaders of Freedom and Duty, respectively. They will offer the player missions, and information on either faction, their founding, purpose and organization. Supporting either will earn the player A Friend of Duty or A Friend of Freedom achievements, both achievements can't be acquired in the same playthrough. Should the player choose to support neither group, he/she will earn the Balance Advocate achievement.

Other than the mentioned NPCs, there are several more who will offer missions, Trapper being the most notable.

Trapper is an aging hunter who has acquired quite a bit of experience in hunting mutants. He will offer the player advice on hunting the most dangerous mutants, and will give the player 3 missions, in which the player must hunt down several bloodsuckers, burers, and a chimera. The chimera in question is the same chimera that killed Trapper's oldest and best friend Fox, Trapper didn't even pull out his gun before the chimera attacked, this led him to the realization that he has grown old, and leaves his hunting days in order to teach younger stalkers. Should the player avenge Fox by killing the chimera, Trapper will give the player his prized weapon, the unique variant of a Chaser 13 shotgun, named Predator.

Other notable Yanov locations:

Mobile Lab

Here the 3 ecologist scientists are present, professor Hermann, professor Ozersky and the technician Grey, who will at first only repair equipment, but later on he will install improvements on armor and helmets, but not weapons. Along with them there are several mercenaries and free stalkers who guard the lab. The entrance to the lab is a decompression chamber. The player will have the option to assist the scientists on several missions, after which more and more services will become open to the player. While working for the scientists the player may unlock two achievements that are directly tied to them.

Pioneer achievement being the first, where the player has to discover 3 unique artifacts and give them to corresponding people, the second Research assistant is unlocked after the player finishes several missions for the ecologists.

Kopachi village

A heavily irradiated zone, north of the large manor in Kopachi is an ash heap anomaly. The village itself is overrun by zombies. The mission given by Uncle Yar, the freedom fighter takes place in Kopachi. In the mission Degtyarev doesn't know what he has to do until the very last second, when mercenaries appear who came there to kill Yar. The player and Yar must then open fire on the mercenaries from the attic of Kopachi manor, considering the distance and the secure location of Yar and the player taking out the mercenaries is no problem. A veles detector may be found in a bulldozer near the manor.

Oasis

The famed and legendary Oasis is a small chamber containing a unique artifact. During the course of the game professor Ozersky will ask of major Degtyarev to find Oasis, if it exists, and bring him anything he finds within. To get to Oasis the player must pass several tunnels filled with mutated rodents, finally making his way to a puzzle room, in which Degtyarev must pass through it in a correct order, failing to do so would teleport Degtyarev back at the start of the puzzle. Once in the chamber the player may take the unique artifact after which he will be attacked by several pseudodogs.

Jupiter Factory

Is an abandoned industrial complex in which Stingray 4 crashed, it was piloted by Lieutenant Sokolov. Outside the factory there are several office buildings, the factory itself isn't infested with mutants but in its surroundings many types of mutants can be found, including: blind dogs, bloodsuckers, chimeras, flesh mutants and others. On the players first arrival to the factory in its vicinity several bandits can be seen. The factory is also the location of one set of fine tools, and in it the entrance to Pripyat underground is located. The interior of the factory is in ruins, holes in the walls can be seen and equipement of the factory workers as well as the products of the factory can be seen laying about.

Helipad

Helipad is the location where Stingray 1 landed, it is the only chopper that made it safely to the zone. The helipad is surrounded by mines, after Degtyarev investigates the chopper a large number of mutants will charge toward the helipad, dying in the process.

Pripyat area

Pripyat is the final area in the game, unlike the previous areas, Pripyat has no swamps, and the majority of the location is filled with abandoned commercial buildings and apartment complexes. It is a ghost city, the only inhabitants (apart from mutants) are the military personal that survived the Stingray crashes and Monolith members. There are no secondary missions in Pripyat, so the time it will take the player to complete this area is shorter than in Zaton or Yanov. Pripyat is the first area in the game where the army has an organized presence, but due to low manpower and resources they are weakening by the minute. Monolith is no longer the threat it once was, though they are still not to be trifled with as they are well equipped, monolith has more numbers than the military in Pripyat and most importantly they are fanatical.

Laundromat

Like Yanov Station, and Skadovsk before it, Pripyat Laundromate is a safe zone where the player can seek medical assistance,sleep and store his items among other things. Laundromat's major difference is that there are no traders, and the only inhabitants are Military personel, most notably Colonel Kovalsky who is in command. Since no trading takes place in the laundromat, the player can only receive military rations in the form of ammunition and medical supplies, again, there is an area where Degtyarev can sleep and store his items. The upside is that the medic and technician will preform their duties for free (The technician will only preform repairs). Other than what little services can be used in Laundromat, its the only place where quests may be received.

Hospital

The location where army personnel set up an ambush for an incoming Monolith squad. After the first 3 Monolith fighters are killed around 15 more, who were in hiding, will open fire on the soldiers, while the leader chants a Monolith prayer. The leader will be on the rooftop of the hospital firing his unique Gauss rifle.

After the battle several mutants may appear in the hospital, including a chimera. The hospital is divided into two wings, each wing having 4 floors.

Bookstore

Pripyat Bookstore seems to be a major base of Monolith, major Degtyarev will be tasked with investigating it and killing any Monolith members that he may find. In the bookstore there are around 16 monolith members, and in a back room there is an antenna-like object that Monolith members seem to worship as they are kneeling in front of it while in a state of trance.

Prometheus Cinema

Is the location where the final part of the game will take place, the military, including Degtyarev are instructed to bring Strelok to the evacuation zone which is situated near the cinema. Two stingray choppers will be waiting there for Strelok, but they will come under heavy assault from both Monolith and zombified Stalkers. Degtyarev and Strelok will have to hurry if they want to make it to the helicopters. The cinema itself is divided into two areas, the first area has a bar and popcorn stand, while the second area has the screen. A sniper can be seen on the rooftop during Strelok's evacuation.

Factions

Most factions from Shadow of Chernobyl make an appearance in Call of Pripyat, there are no new factions, though relationships between some factions has changed, as well as some factions loosing and others gaining power. In Yanov Duty and Freedom have reached an uneasy truce and they rarely attack each other. Bandits have started working with both Duty and Freedom, but they still attack stalkers on sight, though not the player. Some members of Monolith stopped being fanatical killers, possibly due to the brain scorcher shutting down, the player will meet a small group of Monoliths who will claim that they are now peaceful and that they can't remember the last several years of their life, the player can kill them, or help them join either Freedom or Duty, the majority of the Monolith faction is still very much hostile.

Duty

Duty is a well armed, organized and disciplined militaristic faction that believes the zone should be destroyed or at least closed off from the rest of the world, so that its negative influence won't spread. Their equipment primarily comes from "eastern" countries such as Russia and Ukraine.

In Call of Pripyat Duty still remains hostile towards the zone, trying to destroy it. When speaking to the commander of Duty in Yanov, he says that destroying the zone can't be done physically, but rather the source of Zone's existence must be found and eliminated. They are still very much in a rivalry with Freedom, their opposites, but due to low manpower in the center of the zone both factions have agreed to an uneasy truce, small skirmishes still take place, this truce is only in effect at the center of the zone, the war rages on in the rest of the region. Freedom and Duty are located in Yanov area, Duty is led by Lieutenant Colonel Shulga.

An achievement exists called A Friend of Duty, in which the player must support duty by doing favors for them and completing missions in their favor.

Rewards for earning this achievement include, an alliance with Duty, whose members will help the player in combat, as well as lowered prices for repair and improvements from Nitro. The negative aspect is that Hawaiian, the trader will increase his prices, while buying items from the player at very low prices. Freedom members won't become hostile to the player.

Freedom

Freedom is an organization of anarchists and "free spirits" who believe that the Zone should be shared with the world, rather than closed off or destroyed. Despite being called anarchists they are well armed and organized, perhaps even more so than Duty, though they are less disciplined, they primarily use weapons made in "western" countries. The leader of Freedom in Call of Pripyat is Loki, located in Yanov Station.

They are the opposite of Duty, as mentioned, even though they are at war with one another, Duty and Freedom have made an uneasy truce.

There is an achievement called A Friend of Freedom, in order to earn it the player must do the opposite of what he would do to gain the Friend of Duty achievement.

Should the achievement be earned Freedom fighters will become allies and will help the player in firefights, the trader Hawaiian offers items at lowered prices, and the player will gain a suit of armor that freedom uses, Duty members won't become hostile unless the player attacks them.

Bandits

Bandits remain the hub of criminal and illegal activities in the zone. They are undisciplined, unorganized and ill-equipped. They care only for their own interests and financial gains, and are often seen extorting stalkers. They have evolved into making deals with Duty and Freedom traitors whom they offer money, among other things, for Duty's and Freedom's high-tech weaponry and armor. Their leader is Sultan, who had a shady background even before coming to the zone. Bandits are situated primarily in Zaton, though they can be seen in Yanov as well. In Call of Pripyat they are less aggressive and a little more diplomatic. They are no longer hostile to the player by default, though they will attack "free" stalkers on sight. As with Freedom and Duty, the player may earn the respect and "loyalty" of the bandits by earning the Boss achievement.

This achievement requires the player to side with the Bandits against free Stalkers whenever he can. Rewards for the achievement include Bandits becoming friendlies, trader in Skadovsk Owl giving you lowered prices, and Beard being forced to buy artifacts from you at higher prices. Groups of Stalkers may become hostile.

Loners

Also known as free stalkers, are perhaps the most numerous in the zone. They are a collective of Stalkers who have no agenda other than to explore the zone, and survive by selling artifacts or weapons and armor they find. They are at a war with bandits, who try to extort them or outright kill them. Loners are based in Skadovsk and are led by Beard. In Call of Pripyat they are more organized and somewhat more "unified" though not in the true sense of the word.

In-game there is the One of Ours achievement, it involves helping loners out whenever the player can do so. From hunting mutants to paying off a debt to rescuing a captured stalker. When this achievement is earned Beard will gladly give the player full prices for artifacts, and loners will become allies, though the trader Owl will increase his prices.

Ukrainian Military

The only military member that can be seen, prior to Pripyat, is lieutenant Sokolov, the surviving pilot of the crashed Stingray 4. The hub of military activity in Call of Pripyat is Pripyat itself, military survivors made an outpost of sorts in the Laundromat. However, the military is nowhere nearly as present as they were in previous games. In Pripyat they have low manpower, their resources and morale is dwindling and they have no communication with HQ. Nonetheless the military plays a pivotal role in Call of Pripyat. They are in a constant war with the Monolith faction, though it may be more accurate to say its the other way around. From the start of their arrival to Pripyat, many soldiers were lost, some killed by mutants others killed off by Monolith. Like in previous Stalker games, the military is shoot first ask questions later type of faction, a squad of soldiers almost opened fire on major Degtyarev on his arrival to Pripyat. The military suffers heavy loses, as soldiers are unfamiliar and inexperienced with the zone.

Monolith

The Monolith faction plays a minor role in Call of Pripyat, they have lost both power and men when compared to their position in previous games. Some of the members of Monolith are still openly hostile to any and all stalkers, and there are some who have lost their memory, and remember very little of their recent lives, due to the destruction of C-Consciousness. This appears to be the case with a small Monolith squad that the player can find in Yanov. The squad leader, Strider, says he can't remember anything in the past 7 years and that its very much the same with the rest of his squad, Strider then asks of the player to see how Stalkers in Yanov Station feel about Monolith, he is worried, seeing as how every Monolith member opened fire on any stalker in the past. The player will then have a choice in leading Duty or Freedom members to the Monolith location, after which the members of the squad will join either Duty or Freedom. However, not all Monolith members are so peaceful, many remain openly hostile to anyone but other Monoliths, they are fanatical fighters who fight to the death, Colonel Kovalsky in Pripyat explains that they once captured a monolith fighter who got stunned by a grenade, and when they weren't looking, the fighter hit his head on the wall, so hard, that his skull cracked like an egg. But Monolith isn't as powerful in Call of Pripyat as they were in previous games. Due to Stalkers and other factions breaking into the center of the zone, Monolith doesn't have the numbers or power it once had.

Ecologists

Ecologists have the same role they've had in previous games, collecting scientific material and studying the zone. Their center of operations is a mobile lab situated in Yanov area. There are 3 members: Professor Hermann, head of the expedition. Professor Ozersky, Hermann's assistant. Grey (or Novikov) a former member of Clear Sky, he remains in his role of a technician. During the course of the game the scientists at the lab will have a number of tasks for you, from scanning anomalies to recovering artifacts. The lab is protected by mercenaries and free stalkers, later on professor Hermann will ask for your assistance in locating more guards, going to either Freedom or Duty will secure the needed manpower. After doing several favors and missions for the ecologists, the player will receive the option of trading with Hermann for scientific and medical supplies, as well as having repairs and improvements installed by Grey (Armor and helmets only).

Mercenaries

Mercenaries have fallen to hard times after Strelok took out more than half of them. In previous games they acted in their own self interest, this time however, they seem to be working for a single, unrevealed employer, who wishes information on several buildings in Zaton, as well as the mobile lab in Yanov, and the mysterious location Oasis.

There are fewer mercenaries in Call of Pripyat, and they aren't as hostile or aggressive anymore, but they will gladly open fire after giving a few warnings. Being financed by an apparently very wealthy individual means that there will be fewer mercenaries but they will be very well equipped, and fighting them will be very difficult for the player early in the game. Owl, the trader in Skadovsk is interested in the activities of a mercenary squad in an industrial building, Owl will pay Degtyarev to sneak in and steal any info he can, while not harming any of the mercenaries. A group of mercenaries are also located at the Substation Workshops, the player may gain access only after the mission

Take the food to the mercenaries where Degtyarev must give the mercs 6 rations of any type of food. Finally, a group of five mercenaries are investigating a mobile lab in Yanov under the pretenses of guarding the mobile lab. They will attack Degtyarev once he finds some sensitive information.

Call of Pripyat Complete mod

Pavel Dolgov and the rest of the team of talented designers, who previously have made the STALKER Complete mod and Clear Sky Complete mod for the Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky respectively, have stated that they are indeed working on their third "Complete" mod for Call of Pripyat. Unlike the previous STALKER games, Call of Pripyat's gameplay mechanics and engine is a lot more refined. Therefore the game is pretty much in no “need” of modding, so the designers will be forced to change and innovate on the game instead of just improving.

There is no official release information at the moment, and there is neither any other info what the mod will include other than that the mod will be called “Call of Pripyat Complete”. You can most likely expect to see pretty much the same changes you've seen with the previous Complete mods, only at a higher level: enhanced graphics, redone textures, new and improved sounds and so forth. The designers have always been strict not to mess with the core elements of the game and preserving the original feel of the game and they state that they are "simply enhancing it."

Soundtrack

The original score for S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat was composed by Alexey Omelchuk.

System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements for PC Game – S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat

• OS: Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
• CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.2 GHz / AMD Athlon XP 2200+
• RAM: 1 GB
• HDD: 6 GB free disk space
• Graphics: 128 MB Graphics Memory
• Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
• DirectX: Version 9.0c

Recommended System Requirements for PC Game – S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat

• OS: Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 / AMD Phenom II X2 550
• RAM: 2 GB
• HDD: 6 GB free disk space
• Graphics: 512 MB Graphics Memory
• Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
• DirectX: Version 9.0c

Supported Graphics Cards:

• Minimum – Geforce 5900 128 MB / Radeon 9600 XT
• Recommended – Geforce GTX 260 / Radeon HD 4870